Whispers

Phil Rogers

Whispers

Two thumbs up to the Brewers' Casey McGehee for hitting three home runs Wednesday after the father of a 7-year-old asked him to hit a home run for his son. … Stephen Strasburg begins his comeback for real Sunday in Hagerstown, Md. He's had a textbook rehab to this point, but the Nationals will hold their breath until he's once again blowing away big-league hitters, which he'll probably get the chance to do during a Sept. 5-11 homestand. … Dan Uggla's resurgence has been blunted by the continuing slump of Jason Heyward, who is turning into a platoon player for the Braves. He has hit .233 since coming off the DL in mid-June. … There's nothing wrong with the Braves' rotation, but they're studying a quartet of minor league starters (Mike Minor, Julio Teheran, Arodys Vizcaino and Randall Delgado) to see if anyone can bounce Derek Lowe and Brandon Beachy into the bullpen for the playoffs. … Indians second baseman Jason Kipnis is the only big-leaguer to ever homer in four consecutive games within two weeks of his big-league debut. … The Mariners are touting second baseman Dustin Ackley (.313, 23 RBIs in 40 games) for Rookie of the Year. But he can only play a max of 91 games, and no AL position player has ever won ROY without playing at least 100 games. …The Rangers' Derek Holland is the epitome of boom or bust. He's thrown four shutouts but went into the weekend with a 4.14 ERA. The last pitcher to have at least four shutouts and a 4-plus ERA was the Twins' Geoff Zahn in 1980.